Florida Institute of Technology, a private college in Brevard County, is No. 160.

FSU, UCF, USF and FIT each tied with several out-of-state schools to achieve their rankings this year.

UCF spokesman Grant Heston noted that UCF's improved ranking comes during a time of severe budget cuts for state-funded universities and is a "testament to our hard-working staff and faculty members."

U.S. News & World Report rated UCF high in another key area. For the fifth straight year, it was named as one of the country's Top 10 "up-and-coming" schools, according to the university.

This year, UCF was the only Florida institution to make that list of schools, chosen because of their recent "promising and innovative changes in the areas of academics, faculty, student life, campus, or facilities."